Fumbling a game ball, such as a football has been a problem since the invention of the game. When a player who has possession of the ball fumbles, it can change to the course of a game, a season, and even a career. No better example exists than Ernest Byner's fumble in the 1987 AFC Championship Game. When Ernest Byner fumbled the ball at the opposing team's 2 yard line with 1:12 to play, it changed not only the game, but many people believe the entire Cleveland Brown's franchise. This well known fumble was such a historic event that it has its own Wikipedia page titled simply, “The Fumble.” Even though Ernest Byner went on to several Pro Bowls and won a Superbowl ring with the Washington Redskins, he is still most remembered for The Fumble. This shows the importance of ball security better than any other story.
It has become customary for trainers and coaches to follow players as they perform drills and punch, slap, or hit the ball with their hand to simulate game like conditions. There are several problems with this technique. One, it is very difficult if not impossible to simulate the element of surprise. The player will almost always see the trainer or coach (the word trainer will be used from this point forward to mean the person holding the Slap Handle) and know the impact is coming. Two, it is very strenuous on the trainer. He must move with the player and attempt to hit the ball with the same force a trained athlete will be applying during the game. Lastly, it is not very effective. The trainer cannot hit the ball with precision very often, and the force is not nearly as high as it would be if the trainer were an actual opposing player running full speed to tackle the ball carrier and contacting the ball with their helmet. The invention overcomes all of these shortcomings, and provides the best tool in existence for training players to secure the football.
The Fisher Tug-A-Ball product attempts to address some of the issues by allowing the trainer to tug on the ball during drills, but it is simply a nylon strap having one end that covers the ball and the trainer pulls on the other end of the elongated strap. This simple strap does not address the issue of insufficient force as the pulling motion will create only a low force without the simulation of a sharp impact that would result from an opposing player hitting the ball with their helmet or punching at the ball to cause a fumble. Additionally, it does not address the issue of stress and strain on the trainer as it will place a lot of stress on the arm and shoulder of the trainer if they try to recreate game-like forces. Additionally, the raised straps wrapped around the football changes the gripping surface so that it no longer feels like a football, and thus, is not a realistic simulation of holding onto a real football.
Various types of patents have been disclosed over the years that attach tether type lines to footballs. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,042,404 to Masters; 3,227,450 to Pruitt; 3,804,409 to Schachner; 3,940,133 to Civita. However, these devices are generally limited cords and elastic type bands that are primarily used for retrieving footballs. These devices have little capability of being useful for fumble training over the previously described Fisher Tug-A-Ball product.
Other types of modified footballs have been developed specifically for fumble training that use weighted footballs. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,450,407 to Russo and 5,261,661 to Lemmon. However, a weighted ball does not allow for a trainer to surprise the player being trained, and again does not simulate the game like forces of an opposing player attempting to punch, hit or immediately pull the football away from a player.
Other types of ball handling games such as basketball, rugby, and the like have similar fumbling problems to those referenced above. Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems with the prior art.